Mark making area
On Monday one of the children suggested making a post box, which led to the exploration of writing post cards and letters.✏️📮
We used a cardboard box to make the post box and then thought about who we might write our letters to.. Family, friends, Skye from Paw Patrol and Pikachu from Pokemon were just a few brilliant suggestions!👏🙌
We wrote our letters using a variety of media including pencils, felt tips, pencil crayons and chalk! Developing fine motor skills and letter formation, provoking discussion and incorporating role play! Fabulous!✏️📮👏
Courtyard – Gross motor skills
This week in the courtyard the boys and girls have been using their gross motor skills to manoeuvre around our obstacle course. The children decided to make a hopscotch and were able to identify the numbers and sequence these in order from 1-10.
STEM area
The children have been enjoying the lemon juice volcano experiment this week in the STEM area. For the experiment we used the acid in the lemon juice, mixing in some food colouring and then adding some baking soda to cause a big chemical reaction. The children used all their senses, shared and took turns to add all the ingredients and listened very well to the instructions of the experiment.
Rebecca will embarking on a weekly science experiment in the STEM area. This will happen each day allowing all children to take part if they want to and will change weekly on a Monday.
The Stage
At the stage the focus for the month of January is Good Auld Scottish Patter .
We have been reading Scottish books 📖 and singing Scottish songs .
We have even had a few girls who wrote some Scottish words for the wall .
Snack area
This week in the snack area we have been celebrating lots of birthdays. We made lots of birthday cupcakes. We developed our numeracy skills by counting how many spoonfuls of things we needed and weighing out ingredients using the scales.
Courtyard – Block area
From images to real life, the children have done an excellent job this week creating large structures in the block area. Working in teams, the children have discussed ideas, lifted blocks together and created amazing structures 🏗🗼🗽the emphasis this week has been teamwork and this is something that the children do very very well 🤝 furthermore, the pre-planning the children have displayed through selecting landmarks and structures to copy has been wonderful to observe. Transitioning one skill to another and working in a team is a complex concept that the children have displayed with ease. Amazing work everyone 🤩.
Forest School
It was our second session at forest school. We walked in the pouring rain to the woodland but we all had our cozy suits on to keep warm. We put the tarp and hammock up for shelter. We ate breadsticks under the tarp and chatted about the different things we could hear; wind, planes, birds and school children. The children then had the opportunity to learn a basic overhand knot. We had lots of fun and headed back for lunch.
Story corner
This week we have been reading and singing Scottish stories and rhymes. The children have enjoyed learning the Scottish words and what they mean. Some of our favourites have been, “ canny shove ur granny off the bus” and the “ wee lassie that swallowed a midgie”. This has supported the children’s listening and communication skills. We also used puppets and resources to act out some of the stories and rhymes which helped to build confidence and vocabulary.
Art area
Within the expressive area the children have sparked an interest on pirates. We have been focusing on making pirate ships using junk modelling, creating our own money through the use of crayons and printing coins and creating our own treasure map for treasure island 🏴☠️
Woodwork
In woodwork we have been busy making photo frames using nails and wood. They have created frames using beads, smaller items from junk modelling such as bottle lids and excess fabrics 🔨 🗜. This has been great for developing our fine motor skills!
Home corner
Our home corner has had a revamp! We were looking for a more cosy environment where the children could relax. We added more natural materials and added a sofa with blankets and cushions. The children now have access to a dressing up table and mirror where they have been exploring roleplay playing hairdressers.
Acorn room
This week in the acorn room we have been focusing on our colours. Using different materials we have been matching and sorting them into the corresponding colour pots. By using the pincers we have also been working on our fine motor skills to pick up the Pom poms to match them into their pots.
In the home corner we have been talking about what we have for dinner. These sparked conversations about making pizza from playdough, using rollers and collage materials for the toppings. We also explored the “Tiger who came to tea”. Pouring and filling into the cups. The children role played with each other, turn taking and sharing with each other 🫖🤩.
The children have been showing an interest in exploring through their senses as they have been exploring our new sensory toys. The children spent a long period of time pushing our pop it. A few children were able to identify the colours on it. The children chose to reach out and touch the tactile pages of our sensory books. Early Years Workers (EYW’s) used high quality interactions and descriptive language to scaffold their learning. The children said “soft cow” and “bumpy feet”. Showing their understanding. With the children’s interest of That’s not my books. We created a That’s not our Acorn ladies and the children were able to make simple choices of the loose parts they used to decorate them. J.M laughed as he placed tinsel on Elaine hair and said “Elaine has sparkly hair”.
